Searching for Something Special
by HeMoIsBoss
Summary: Brittany has spent the first twenty-one years of her life waiting to meet her soulmate. Now she's only got 74 days, 8 hours, 12 minutes, and 36 seconds to go.
1. Time Starts

**Searching for Something Special**

 _Chapter 1; Time Starts_

The room was dark, almost pitch black. The only trace of light were the neon pink number emitting from the small alarm clock in the corner of the room, which flashed 2:34AM. The room was quiet, almost silent. The only trace of sound were the soft snores coming from the overweight cat that was sleeping quietly at the foot of the kingsized bed that sat in the middle of the room. The night was still.

In the middle of the room lay a young woman, who was sleeping soundly, completely oblivious to what was about to happen. In fact, everyone was oblivious to what was about to happen, because despite it having to happen to everyone, it was always completely random. So just like every other night, Brittany Pierce was sleeping soundly, oblivious to the way her wrist was beginning to grow warmer and how her pulse was beginning to beat faster.

If you asked Brittany Pierce about herself, she'd tell you that she's not at all that interesting. She didn't have many friends, preferring to keep herself to herself. It wasn't because she found it difficult to make friends, because she didn't. Her current friends had been easy to make friends with. It was because it was a rare occurrence for her to find people that she actually clicked and connected with. She found it pointless to have acquaintances with people who she couldn't even hold a conversation with, which is why she opted to keep to herself. Whenever she did find someone interesting to talk to, she made a point of speaking to them and getting to know them. She was picky, she was aware of that.

Brittany was aware of a lot of things, actually. She was aware that she didn't have many friends, and instead opted in confiding her deepest secrets to her cat Lord Tubbington, and sometimes her roommate Quinn... but not always because sometimes she's scared of how Quinn might react to them. She's aware that she doesn't go out much, unless it's to college or the store, and instead spends the majority of her time curled up with her nose in a book or at her desk, doing more college work. She's also aware that she spends too much time on her own, finding solace in being in her own company rather than others. It's not that she doesn't like being surrounded by her friends, because she does, it's just that when she's alone, she's able to think clearly. Without any interruptions.

However, despite Brittany being very aware of what's going on around her most of the time, she's also incredibly oblivious. She's oblivious to the beautiful body she owns, which she maintains by working out four times a week, and always covers it in skinny jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie. She's oblivious to the way that when she and Quinn go to The Bean for their morning coffee, that both the waiter and the waitress always try to hit on her. She's oblivious to the way that so many people in her college classes envy her because she seems so 'naturally smart', when really it's because she spends so much of her free time studying. She's also completely oblivious to how everyone seems to be in a rush all day everyday, while she just strolls on by in her own time.

There's never any rush, at least not to Brittany, anyway.

"Shit!" Brittany inhales sharply through her nose, her eyes going wide as she sits bolt upright in her bed. The sudden movements cause Lord Tubbington to wake up and jump off the bed, all while he hisses in disappointment, but Brittany is too focussed on the burning sensation in her wrist to notice. It is what woke her up after all.

Her wrist feels like it's on fire and her pulse is pounding so hard that she's quite sure her hearts moved from her chest down into there instead. Clambering over her bed, she hits the switch to her bedside lamp, a bright light fighting away the darkness in the room. She blinks her eyes a few times, doing her best to familiarise herself with the light and when she does, she inspects her wrist and gasps at what she sees.

74: 08: 12: 36

She blinks and looks again.

74:08:12:35

Her clock has started.

Brittany can't believe this is happening. Well, she can, kind of, because she knew that this day was inevitable. Everybody in the world has a timer on their wrist, that they were born with, and at some point in their lifetime, it will start. According to research so far, there's no science behind it, and so Brittany likes to think of it as fate. She's been wishing for her timer to start for years now, the main reason being so that she can meet her soulmate and hopefully fall in love with them so that her parents will stop nagging on at her to meet someone. She's got other reasons too, like she's impatient and the fact that her timer has been frozen for twenty one years has been bugging her. She also was getting really tired of being the only one in her small circle of friends who's hadn't started yet. At least now she's not the butt of all their jokes. She guesses, that in a weird way, this is a really nice birthday present.

She traces her finger over the numbers on her wrist. Her eyes wide in amazement.

74:08:10:26.

She's going to meet her soulmate in 74 days, 8 hours, 10 minutes and 26 seconds.

"Happy birthday, Britt." She mutters to herself, her body still in some state of disbelief.

She glances at the alarm clock on her bedside table, noticing how it's almost three o'clock and she groans inwardly to herself. Her roommate, Quinn, is an early riser and she knows that she isn't going to let her sleep late on her birthday. She wriggles back down beneath her blanket and lays her head back down on her pillow, but knows that she's probably not going to be able to sleep. Especially now, since she can't keep her eyes off her timer that's ticking away.

/

" _IF I COULD TURN BACK TIIIIIIIME. IF I COULD FIND A WAAAAAAAY!"_

Brittany groans loudly when the sound of her roommate singing (or screeching, in this case) wakes her up from her peaceful slumber. With her eyes still screwed tightly shut, Brittany reaches over and blindly hits her hand against her mattress until she finds a spare pillow before grabbing it, and placing it over her ears in an attempt to block out the noise. She's been living with her roommate, Quinn, for almost a year now and almost every day she wakes Brittany up like this. It isn't even done intentionally. Quinn is simply an early riser who loves to sing, and Brittany is a late sleeper who is always woken up because of it. She wouldn't change it though, because she likes living with Quinn in their two bedroom apartment. It's small and cosy, and Quinn is an excellent cook which means Brittany comes home to delicious meals all the time. She's lucky.

Brittany keeps her eyes shut, and she's pretty sure that if she keeps the pillow pressed against her ear to drown out Quinn's wailing then there's a pretty good chance she could probably fall back asleep. She's about to test her idea to see if it will really work, but then the events of last night suddenly come flashing back to her, causing her to throw the pillow to the bottom of the bed and sit up quickly.

74:01:27:52.

Her timer is still ticking, it wasn't a dream.

A faint smile graces Brittany's lips as she watches the numbers change continuously on her wrist, her eyes full of fascination. She finds herself tracing the numbers with her index finger, noticing how her wrist still seems to be pulsing a little more so than usual. She wonders if this is what happens once your timer starts, she makes a mental note to check with one of her friends when she gets the chance.

Brittany is broken out of her trance when the strong scent of bacon and eggs begins to drift through into her bedroom, causing her stomach to growl, and making her realise how hungry she really is. She thinks back to last night and remembers how she skipped out on dinner and supper because she was too tired after her college classes, and instead had gone and lay in her bed to read a book until she fell asleep. She realises now that it probably wasn't the smartest decision to make.

Hopping out of her bed, Brittany dances over to her bedroom door and places her hand on the handle, ready to open it. However, instead of doing just that and making her way into the kitchen, she turns around and grabs one of her sweaters that are hanging over the seat in her bedroom. Hastily pulling it over her head, she grins at herself in satisfaction and exits her bedroom. She wants to keep her news to herself for a little bit longer.

Just as she predicted, Brittany wanders into the kitchen and finds Quinn standing in front of the cooker, swaying her hips in time with the music blaring from the radio. It's a common sight, one that never fails to make her smile, and Brittany takes a seat on one of the stools at the kitchen island and watches her closely, wondering how long it will take for her roommate to notice her.

Brittany met Quinn on the first day of college, when they both got lost on their way to their first class and ended up in the library together. When this had happened, Brittany didn't really mind because she knew that even though they were going to be late, nothing important ever happened in their first class of a year, and she really liked the library. So she didn't mind being lost in one. Out of the two of them, Quinn had been the one brave enough to speak first, and offered a simple; "hi I'm Quinn Fabray." to Brittany. Brittany had merely nodded in response and offered a tight lipped smile, she was kind of intimidated by her.

There was no denying that Quinn Fabray was beautiful, because she was, like a goddess. She had short blonde hair that didn't go much further past her chin, and round hazel eyes that always seemed to be on alert. She wore pretty sundresses and hairbands, and had a voice so sweet that Brittany's sure it could melt the coldest of hearts. She was like a real life doll, just a lot less plastic. That being said though, Quinn was not someone to mess with. She had a fiery temper, but it wasn't something that was ever unleashed unless provoked. Brittany had only ever seen her lose it a total of six times, and all of them had been because of Noah Puckerman, their friend, or as Brittany liked to call him, their acquaintance.

"Happy Birthday, Brittany!" Quinn sings as she spins around on her heels when she hears the feet of the stool scrape against the cold white tiles of the kitchen floor. "How does it feel being twenty-one?"

"Thanks Quinn." Brittany smiles, drumming her fingers against the countertop as she thinks of an answer. "It's alright, I suppose, it feels the same as always."

She guesses that's a tiny lie. She doesn't feel the same as always because her clock has started and what she's realising is that every second she spends sitting down, or eating, or thinking, or anything really, is a second closer to her meeting her soulmate. It's actually kind of exciting.

"Yeah, I felt the same on my birthday too." Quinn admits, thinking back to two months ago. "I'm making you breakfast. I was going to make you pancakes but we've not got any flour since I used the last of it for dinner last night, which by the way, you never ate!"

"I'm sorry." Brittany apologises, despite knowing that Quinn isn't angry with her in the slightest. "Classes just kicked my butt yesterday, I was so tired."

"I get you, but luckily we've only got a few more months until we're done for the year." She responds, looking for the positive. That's something Brittany really likes about Quinn, she always looks for the positive in every situation. "Do you have any plans for today? Remember we're going out to that new club tonight to celebrate your birthday."

"No plans for today." Brittany replies, grabbing a bit of bacon off the plate that her roommate has just put down in front of her, and pops it into her mouth. "Do we have to go out tonight? You know I don't even like going out!"

"You know we have to." Quinn drawls out, taking a seat next to her friend and ignoring the pout that's firmly etched on her face. "Kurt's timer runs out in less than a month and he's totally convinced he's going to fall in love and settle down with his soulmate as soon as he sees them. He wants to have a little fun before that happens."

Brittany thinks about this for a moment, mindlessly twirling her fork between her fingers. She never understood why her friend's were all in such a rush to do things and go out and have fun, but now that her timer has started and she can see time physically tick away, she guesses she understands it a little bit better. She has always believed that once she meets her soulmate, she'll fall in love with them and want to be with them which is why she's never dated anyone before. She's never been out on a date, ever kissed someone or ever had sex. She's never seen the point in doing any of that stuff if it isn't going to last. Which is why she still doesn't fully understand why her friends want to go out and do it.

"Fine." She sighs, stabbing another piece of bacon with her fork. "I want to be home by three in the morning though."

"That's fine, B." Quinn responds with a smile. "It gives us plenty of time to have fun."

Brittany doesn't think _fun_ is the right word to describe the night ahead of them.

/

73:11:12:22.

Brittany is in the middle of the dance floor, swaying her hips in time with the music. Although she doesn't typically look or act like the dancing type, she's actually very good at it and enjoys it a lot. In fact, if her passion for animals and helping them wasn't so strong, Brittany's sure that she would have spent all her time dancing instead of at college, like how she used to spend her time when she was younger. However, it's nothing more than a hobby for her now. She doesn't mind though, she prefers it that way because it makes her appreciate it more.

What Brittany doesn't appreciate however, is the fact that she's currently got someone grinding up against her. She lets her bright blue eyes roam over the girl in front of her and Brittany can't deny that she is pretty. She's got short light brown hair and bright green orbs that are eyeing her hungrily. Brittany's aware of what the girl wants, she wants Brittany to dance with her, but the blonde doesn't want that. In fact, Brittany doesn't even really want to be here at all.

Her eyes scan the crowded room and eventually stop on a playful pair of hazel eyes staring back at her, belonging it Quinn. She's leaning up against the bar with a drink in her hand, ignoring the guy who is desperately trying to flirt with her. Brittany knows that look in her eyes all too well, she wants Brittany to let loose and have a good time. Too bad the blonde doesn't want that. She pleads with her friend silently, her eyes widening and her face scrunching up in dissatisfaction when the girl grinds into the front of her.

" _Help!"_

She silently mouths to Quinn, and she guesses that the other blonde must have had enough entertainment from watching her because seconds later, she struts over to her to save her from her misery. "Hey hot stuff." Quinn purrs, sidling her way past the brunette and over to her roommate. "Wanna dance?"

Quinn wraps her arms around Brittany's neck and leans in, pecking her cheek, all while keeping her eyes on the strange who looks less than happy that she's arrived. Quinn and Brittany have played this game many times before, and so Brittany plays along, placing her hands on Quinn's hips and pulling her in closer. They dance like this for a few minutes, until the girl gets the hint and disappears back into the crowd. As soon as she's away, the two girls share a laugh, and then make their way over to the bar for another drink.

"You know..." Quinn starts once they're leaning back up against the bar. "You should just let yourself go, Brittany, and see what happens."

Brittany rolls her eyes and snorts in response, grateful that the bartender comes over at this very moment to take their orders. She orders herself and Quinn a double vodka each and waits patiently for them to be made, and once it's in her hand she sips on it slowly, using it as an excuse to not reply to her friend's statement. She doesn't want to have this conversation yet again, because the topic is always brought up whenever they go out. It's always the same, Brittany gets hit on, she declines the advance, Quinn watches her do this, and then tells her she should let loose and have fun. As always, Brittany tells her roommate that she doesn't want to do that and waste her time, and Quinn will eventually drop the issue.

"Brittany?"

Brittany snaps out of her thoughts and focusses all of her attention back onto her friend in front of her. She downs the last of the liquid in her glass, wincing as the alcohol burns the back of her throat, and slams the glass back down onto the counter, signalling for the bartender to make her another.

"You know I don't want to have that kind of fun." Brittany responds with a small shrug. "It's not me, it never has been."

"I know, B." Quinn nods her head, sipping her own drink. "But you never know, you could meet someone at a party or a club, and you could create something special with them." She reasons. "You never know unless you try."

"I doubt that I'm going to create something special with someone that I've met at a club." Brittany responds with a sigh, eyeing the people around her. She can't imagine ever hooking up with someone and later creating something special with them. It just isn't her. "I like being on my own, I only ever have to rely on myself."

And it's true, Brittany likes being on her own because it means that she doesn't have to rely on anyone at all. She's in her own little bubble that she doesn't let many people into, and that way, she reduces the risk of ever being let down or disappointed. The key in not being disappointed is to not expect much from anyone at all, and so she doesn't. She relies on herself, and sometimes when absolutely necessary, her friends.

"If you say so, Brittany." Quinn downs the rest of her drink and decides to drop the subject because she too, knows exactly how this conversation goes. The petite blonde calls over the bartender once again and order four shots. She pays for them and pushes two across the surface of the bar to her friend. "Let's down these and go back and dance."

So they do, the two blondes down the shots simultaneously and then walk back to the dance floor arm in arm to dance the rest of the night away.

/

73:07:14:10.

Brittany unlocks the door to her apartment, blinking the tiredness out of her eyes as a yawn escapes through her lips. With her free hand, she turns the handle to let herself inside and pulls Quinn in alongside with her. Her roommate stumbles a few steps forward, her head cast down towards the floor and then collides into Brittany, the alcohol making her unaware of just how close she was standing next to her. It's not long after three o'clock in the morning, and unlike Brittany, Quinn didn't stop drinking after the couple of shots they shared and instead continued on competing with Kurt to see who could drink the most. Brittany still isn't too sure who won, she's just glad she's been able to get them both home safe.

"Let's get you to bed." Brittany mumbles, more to herself than to Quinn as she begins to guide them both through the small apartment. She dumps her bag on the sofa as she passes and also stops to slip her shoes off. She ended up wearing heels tonight, something that she quickly began to regret because despite having broken them in ages ago, they still hurt her feet whenever she wore them. She doesn't think she'll ever learn.

When they reach Quinn's bedroom, Brittany guides her friend over to her bed and sits her on it. She watches in amusement as Quinn flops backwards onto the mattress, her legs dangling over the edge of the bed. Moving over to her friend's dresser she grabs a pair of pyjamas out for Quinn and chucks them over to her. She hopes she isn't too drunk to change her clothes because even though Brittany's helped her change plenty of times before, she doesn't fancy doing it tonight because she's too tired. She just wants her bed.

"Change into your pjs, Q." She instructs, peering over to make sure she's still awake. "I'm going to find you some aspiring and water because I know you're going to need it."

She hears Quinn mumble something that sounds a lot like _'yes, chief'_ in response as she exits the bedroom. Making a quick stop in the bathroom that they share, she grabs the box of aspirin from the medicine cabinet and then goes into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. She grabs one for her too because even though she isn't drunk, she knows that she's probably going to wake up with a very dry throat in the morning. She tiredly drags her body back into Quinn's bedroom just in time to see her pull her shorts over her legs and then fall back down onto the bed as she struggles to pull them up over her thighs.

"Take these." She instructs, handing two of the tablets and bottle of water to her friend. "You're definitely going to feel this in the morning."

"I'll be fine." Quinn rolls her eyes and huffs, but does what she's been asked. "I've got big plans for tomorrow."

"Oh really?" Brittany cocks her head to the side. "What are they?"

"I'm meeting Santana." Quinn says, acting as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "You know, my best friend from high school?"

"Oh yeah." Brittany nods her head. She's never met Santana before, but Quinn has always spoken a lot about her. Brittany thinks she sounds very nice, but unfortunately whenever Quinn has tried to introduce them to one another something has always gone wrong to allow it to happen. "I hope you both have a great time."

"We will." The blonde replies confidently. "You should join us! She would love to meet you!"

"I'd love to meet her too." Brittany begins to walk towards the door, knowing that the two of them both need to sleep and if she continues to talk to Quinn then neither of them will get any. "But I can't. I'm meeting my brother, Sam. He's just back from spending three weeks in London."

"You'll need to meet her soon."

Brittany agrees by nodding her head, and then after bidding goodnight to her roommate, she exits the room. She really would like to meet Santana soon, it would nice to be able to put a face to a name that she so often hears about.

What Brittany didn't know however, was that she was going to meet Santana in 73 days, 6 hours, 55 minutes and 49 seconds.

/

 **Author's Note:**

Hey guys! Let me know what you think so far, I've got the first six chapters planned out and although there's not much interaction in this one, there's loads to come. Please review!


	2. Waiting

Searching for Something Special

Waiting

The music pumping loudly through her headphones makes Brittany oblivious to all of the commotion surrounding her in the airport. She's currently standing in the middle of a sea of people, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, unable to keep still. She's too excited. As she cranes her neck over the crowd of people, Brittany sucks her bottom lip between her teeth and furrows her eyebrows, deep in concentration as she searches for her brother. She's not seen him in a few months, but she doesn't think he will have changed all too much in that time. In fact, she's pretty sure he's probably only gotten paler because whenever she spoke to him on the phone, he always complained about how the weather was mostly bad and how there was barely any sun.

As the minutes pass by, the crowd surrounding Brittany begins to disperse, as each of them are reunited with the person they've been patiently waiting on. Brittany's been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hasn't noticed this though, and she doesn't notice her brother bounding over towards her until it's too late. Before she knows it, she's being picked right up off her feet and spun around so fast her vision is blurred.

"Sam!" She squeals loudly, both in surprise and delight, not caring about the stares they're getting from the people left surrounding them. "You're here!"

Sam places Brittany back down onto the ground, keeping a loose hold around her so that she doesn't lose her balance. As soon as her feet touch the floor though, Brittany flings herself back at her brother, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. Despite there being a five year age gap between the two, they've always been incredibly close, and Brittany always misses her older brother whenever he goes away to travel. Which is something he does a lot now, ever since he finished college almost a year ago and decided to take some time out to himself.

"Brittany, I've missed you so much!" He breathes into her ear, tightening his hold on her one last time before letting go and grabbing his suitcase that he left behind him. "How have you been?"

"I've been good." Brittany responds, a small smile tugging at her lips as they weave their way through the groups of people also on their way to the exit. She can't wait until they're out of here so that they can go and spend some time together before they have to go and visit their parents. She isn't really looking forward to that part though because she's never totally gotten along with her parents, but that's a long story for another time.

"Brittany!" Sam's voice snaps her out of her thoughts and she turns her head to look at him. "You totally spaced out on me there." He accuses, but Brittany knows her brother isn't angry at her in the slightest. He's never been angry at her because he's always been very chilled out and understanding. She also knows that he has the tendency to space out too, she thinks it probably runs in their family... then again neither of her parents are like that. So really, she doesn't know why it is.

"Sorry, my mind went somewhere else." She apologises. "I've been good." She repeats, licking her lips as she tries to think of something interesting or exciting that has happened that she can tell her brother about. She can't really think of much though, her birthday was fun, but it wasn't anything special, and aside from that she's spent most days either dancing, studying or reading. She subtly glances down at her wrist, and she guesses she could tell Sam about how her timer started, but she doesn't really want to do that while they're walking through the middle of the airport. She'd rather do it somewhere more private because she doesn't like the idea of complete strangers being there for such a personal moment.

"I've been studying a lot." She eventually adds. "I'm nearly finished second year, and I can't afford to let my grades slip."

Sam can't help but scoff at his sister's statement and rolls his eyes exaggeratedly in response to her because he knows that there is no way that her grades are going to slip any time soon. He's pretty sure that Brittany's the smartest person he's ever known, and he's confident that she's going to pass her exams without a hitch. He knows how driven his sister is to become a vet, and he also knows that she isn't going to let anyone or anything stand in her way of achieving that dream. He's never met anyone as driven as she is, but he wishes she had more confidence in herself as it's what she's lacking.

"You're going to do great, B." Sam reassures his little sister as they exit the airport, the cool air from the outside suddenly surrounding them. "How was your birthday? I tried to call you, but my connection was weird and kept cutting out and by the time it was working again, I was boarding the plane to come home."

Brittany isn't going to lie, with her timer starting the day of her birthday and then spending the night out with her friends, she completely forgot that Sam hadn't called her to wish her a happy birthday. It's not really a big deal to her though because she understands that the two of them both lead busy lives and it isn't as easy to stay in contact with one another as it used to be. "My birthday was good." She replies, unlocking her car and opening up the back so her brother can put his suitcase in there before slipping into the driver's side. "I spent the morning with my roommate, Quinn, and then we went out to a club with the rest of our friends."

"I can't imagine seeing you in a club." Sam chuckles as he too, gets into the car. "Did you have fun?"

"That's because I don't go to them often, they're not really my thing. It was alright, I guess." She explains, shrugging her shoulders slightly. "I just wanted to dance, but there was this girl who kept trying to dance on me, so Quinn had to come and save me." She recites, recalling her night. "Then Quinn got way too drunk and getting her home was an event in itself. I hope I don't have to do it again any time soon."

Sam chuckles at her version of events from that night, finding it really funny how awkward his sister gets in situations like that. She's been like that for as long as he can remember, and he wishes that there was some way she'd be able to relax and have a good time. He understands that clubs and, well, all social events aren't for everyone, but all he really wants is for his little sister to be making most of her life and experiences that are being sent her way.

"You should have gotten her number, B. Was she hot?" He teases, watching in amusement as Brittany's cheeks turn slightly red at the question. "At least you're making memories, though." He adds, turning serious again. "That's what life is all about."

"Sam, stop!" She whines in embarrassment, knowing fine well he's only asking her that question to wind her up. She's never been secretive about her sexuality to anyone, it's a known fact to all of her friends and family that she's interested in both male and female. However, she's never dated or kissed anyone for that matter, and still gets a little bit embarrassed when stuff like that's brought up in conversation. Unfortunately, her friends and family know that too, and love to tease her about it.

"Okay, I'm sorry." He holds his hands up in surrender, but fails to hide the cheeky grin that's still on his face. "How about we drive around for a bit and grab something to eat before we have to go and visit Mom and Dad?"

"That sounds perfect." Brittany replies, putting the car in reverse. "Because I really don't want to see them."

/

"All I'm saying is that The Bean makes better pancakes than Manny's." Brittany huffs, crossing her arms over her chest as she opens the door to the small dinner, 'Manny's', with her brother following closely behind her. "Trust me, I should know, I frequent them both often."

It was true, Brittany did visit both Manny's and The Bean often because one of her favourite things to do in her spare time, besides read, was to people watch and she found that small cafes and diners where the best places to do just that. She liked these two places in particular because they were both fairly close to her and were often very quiet, which meant that she could sit there for hours without any distractions or interruptions. She usually brought a book or her laptop with her so that she could do her college work too, and she liked that she had become a frequent regular at them both.

"I'm not disagreeing." Sam replies, making his way over to a free table at the back of the small diner. He picks up the menu and begins skimming through it, knowing that he'll probably get the same as whatever his sister is having as he trusts her judgement. He can't remember the last time he was here, especially since he's been away travelling for three months straight. "But, The Bean is like thirty minutes in the opposite direction of Mom and Dad's, and I promised them we'd be there to visit at two o'clock at the latest."

"Great, I can't wait." The sarcasm is obvious in Brittany's voice. "Although I'm glad you're back for this visit because I really didn't fancy visiting them on my own."

That was something that was also true, Brittany didn't want to visit her parents without Sam being by her side because she had a somewhat strained relationship with both her Mom and Dad, and whenever she visited them, it often ended in an argument between them. Sam liked to be there to be a mediator between Brittany and their parents, but even he couldn't stop them from throwing sly digs at his sister, or stop his sister from having an attitude towards them. It was always a tough time when they were all in the same room.

Brittany isn't really sure why she has a strained relationship with them though, but she does know that it's been that way for as long as she can remember. The Pierce family owned a law firm in New York and because of this, both of Brittany's parents were incredibly busy and she never got to spend much time with either of them growing up. Throughout her childhood, she and Sam had a nanny who cooked for them, took them to school, picked them up from school, and looked after them until it was time for bed. On the rare occasions that her parents were home, they spent most of their time with Sam, setting him up early on to take over the family business. However, what they didn't know back then was that Sam had no intention of doing that whatsoever. Brittany isn't even sure if they fully know that now.

Sam had always been the favourite, and it never really bothered Brittany when she was growing up because she was always in her little bubble. She was either reading, doing school work, or dancing, and so she never had time to dwell on it too much. Her parents had never been there for her emotionally, but they had been there for her financially and materialistically and while she was growing up, it's all that really mattered to her. After all, what kind of teenager would complain about getting absolutely everything they had ever wanted? Exactly. None.

However, as Brittany got older she began to realise the differences in the way that she and Sam were treated by their parents and she guesses she began to get a little bit bitter about it all. She never understood how they wouldn't support her dream of becoming a vet or encourage her free-spirited ways, yet they would quite happily fund Sam's trips around the world when he couldn't afford to do so himself. She never took her frustrations out of her brother though, because she knows it's not his fault.

She learned from a young age that life was unfair, and unfortunately it was something she was just going to have to deal with.

"Hopefully they'll be alright today." Sam replies after a moment of thought, knowing how touchy this subject is for his sister. He's not going to lie, he has a great relationship with his parents and loves them dearly. However, he's seen first hand the way that her parents treat his little sister, and he knows it's not fair on her at all. "They want to see you because it's you're birthday, maybe they'll just give you your presents, catch up on how college is going and then leave you alone."

"Hopefully." Brittany agrees, knowing that it's probably not going to be the case. "Do you know what you're gonna order?" She asks, deciding to change the subject.

"Not yet, probably pancakes." Sam shrugs, focussing his attention back onto the menu. "What do you suggest? You come here so often you've probably had everything on this menu." He jokes, causing the siblings to share a smile.

"Well definitely not pancakes, because The Bean does better ones." Brittany replies, rolling her eyes. "I think I'm gonna go for some waffles with strawberries and cream, and a banana milkshake."

"That sounds like a good choice!" Sam agrees, deciding he's going to get the same. "Mom's gonna kill us for eating before visiting though, she's probably made some kind of fancy lunch for us."

"You mean their chef has made us some kind of fancy lunch." Brittany corrects, just as the waitress comes over to take their order. "It doesn't matter though, I'll be the one who gets shouted at for it, not you."

Sam nods sadly, because he knows it's true.

/

Quinn checks her phone for the fifth time and sighs when she still hasn't received any sort of notification from her best friend, Santana, on it. They were supposed to meet for coffee fifteen minutes ago, and so far the blonde has been the only one to show up. She really isn't at all that surprised though because her friend has never been that great at time keeping and is usually running late. Quinn usually wouldn't mind since she knows this fact about Santana, but today her hangover is killing her and although she usually loves the smell of coffee that fills the air in The Bean, it's making her feel as if she's going to throw up. She can already feel her headache approaching and she wishes now that she had remembered to take some aspiring before leaving the house. At least she'll learn for next time... hopefully.

Just as she's about to text her friend and ask her where she is, the door to the small cafe opens and Quinn watches through her hazel eyes as Santana pushes through it, her eyes darting around the room until they settle upon her. Quinn can't help but stare at Santana because even though she last saw her a month ago, she can't help but think something has changed with her. Her dark raven coloured hair is longer than usual, but that doesn't really surprise her. Her caramel coloured tanned skin looks flawless, as usual, along with her figure, and so she doesn't really know what seems so different. It isn't until she's almost to the table that she notices the dark bags under Santana's mocha brown eyes that she thinks that must be what's different about the girl.

"Hey Q, sorry I'm late." Santana greets apologetically as she takes a seat opposite her friend. "I was gonna text you, but my phone died on the way here since I forgot to charge it last night."

"Don't worry about it." Quinn smiles, happy that her friend is finally here so that they can catch up. "I'm just glad you're here."

"Me too." Santana smiles in agreement. "It's been a month too long since we last saw each other."

Quinn and Santana met each other on their first day of high school, and they had been best friends and inseparable ever since. To a lot of people, their friendship had never made that much sense to them since both Santana and Quinn were completely different from one another, but to them, it made perfect sense and that's all that mattered to the pair. Whilst Santana had always been outspoken, loud, intelligent and intimidating, Quinn had been incredibly smart, quiet and somewhat manipulative. Together they made the perfect team, and so throughout their years at high school, they stayed together side by side. They never once let anyone or anything come between their friendship, despite it proving a challenge through the years since so many people tried to split the duo up on multiple occasions.

When the end of high school drew nearer to an end and Quinn and Santana realised they were going to be going to different colleges from one another, they were worried that their friendship would slowly dissolve. They thought it would be inevitable once classes started and they made new friends, however, it was now two years down the line and it was still going strong. In fact, it was now stronger than ever, and despite not being able to see each other often due to their college courses and jobs being incredibly demanding of their time, they made the effort to see each other for a catch up at least once a month, and whenever they did, it was always as if nothing had changed between them.

"I'm starving, I've not eaten since lunch time yesterday." Santana announces before they can begin talking and catching up on the past month. Quinn can't say she's surprised that Santana is hungry because, well, she always is. It's been that way ever since she met her. "I think I'm gonna get a cheese and tomato panini and a caramel macchiato... oh and a triple chocolate muffin."

"I see your diets going well." Quinn teases, remembering how just two weeks ago Santana had text her asking for some healthy recipes to try since she was on a diet. She had sent her some of her favourite once, but she failed to understand why she was even dieting since Santana had a figure to die for. "I think I'm just going to get a latte." She finishes, just as the waitress comes over to take their order, and they both thank her as she leaves. "I went out last night and totally overdid it."

"Oh yeah?" Santana quirks her eyebrow in interest. "Did you have a good night?"

"Yeah it was great, I was out for my roommates birthday." Quinn answers, tucking a stray piece of her blonde hair behind her ear. "She isn't much of a party girl, but it was funny watching her get all flustered when people kept trying to flirt with her."

"Quinn that's mean, but I'm glad you had a good time." Santana answers, slightly jealous of her friend's adventures because she hasn't been able to go out in such a long time due to work and college. "I think the last time I was out was like five months ago." She reveals. "Work and college is literally kicking my ass."

"I can only imagine how tough it must be." Quinn shoots her friend a sympathetic smile as the waitress comes back over with their food and drinks, and she watches in amusement as Santana dives straight into it. "At least there's only a few months left before we're done for the year." She adds, trying to put a positive spin onto it, which makes Santana roll her eyes.

"College classes might be done in a few months, but I need to find an internship or something at a law firm for work experience." Santana explains, sipping on her coffee. "If I'm going to be successful in this business then I need to be the best, and to be the best I need the experience."

Ever since she had joined the debate team in high school and had taken a real interest in politics and current affairs, Santana had known that she wanted to be a lawyer of some sort. Which is why, when she was in her senior year of high school, she had applied to all of the best colleges for Law. She had ended up being accepted into New York Law School, which had ultimately been her first choice because not only did she have dreams of studying and living in New York, but she knew that Quinn had been accepted into Columbia University and that she'd be close by to her too. It had worked out perfectly for her. However, what she quickly came to realise was that there was a lot of work that came with studying to be a lawyer and Santana often found herself drowning in it. She had no idea how she was going to juggle college work, finding an internship, and working at the local bar at night, but she knew that she was going to have to find a way.

"Santana, you're going to do great." Quinn reassures her best friend, reaching over the table and patting her hand. "Have you applied to anywhere yet for an internship?"

"Not yet, I've been too exhausted." Santana shakes her head. "I've still got a few weeks before all of the firms start picking summer internships though, so I'm hoping that I'll be good enough for at least one of them."

"You will be." Quinn states very matter of factly. She knows how hard working and driven Santana is, and she knows that she's going to find a way to juggle her social life, her work, her college work and her internship and still come out on top. She believes in her. "I'm pretty sure my roommate said her parents own a law firm here in New York." Quinn says as an after thought, thinking back to one particular discussion she had with Brittany not too long ago. "If you're having any trouble finding one, let me know and I'll talk to her."

"Do you think she'd be okay with that?" Santana questions, interested in the idea. "I've never met her before and I wouldn't want her to be putting herself out there for a complete stranger."

"Santana, she's like the nicest girl I've ever met." Quinn answers honestly. "You're not even that much of a stranger because I talk about you all of the time... speaking of time, how much is left on your clock?"

Santana shrugs, not even bothering to look at her left wrist. "I've got like seventy two days left or something." She answers. "It runs out the same day that exams end for the year, I'm using it for a countdown for that, rather than a countdown to meet my soulmate."

"You're lucky yours is almost up." Quinn huffs, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "I've still got six months left."

"Mines started all the way back in high school." The Latina reminds her best friend with a chuckle.. "Mines deserves to come to an end."

"I guess you're right." The blonde nods, feeling slightly lucky that she hasn't had to watch her time tick away for as long as Santana. "I hope your soulmate is hot, it would be a disaster if they weren't."

"I don't really care what they look like." Santana responds, drinking the last of her coffee and motioning for the waitress to come back over so that she can order another one. "You know I don't believe in that crap, and I highly doubt that when I see them I'm going to fall in love with them or feel the connection that everyone says you feel as soon as you lay eyes upon them."

"We'll see, Santana." Quinn chuckles at her friend's pessimism. "We'll see."

/

Brittany sits at the dining table with her cheek resting in the palm of her hand, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she leans more of her body weight onto her elbows which are currently resting on the table. With her free hand, she picks up her fork and begins to poke around at the salad in front of her, making a discreet disgusted face as she does so. She hates salad, she always has done and she does't understand why her parents always try to feed her it when she visits. Well, she does understand, and it's because Sam loves it.

Speaking of Sam, Brittany looks to her left to see that her brother has finished eating all of his salad and is currently in the middle of telling their parents all about his trip to London. She isn't surprised he's eaten all of his salad because he's got an abnormally big mouth, and she wonders if she could sneak any of hers onto his plate without anyone noticing. She highly doubts it though, because both of her parents are sitting directly opposite her, but their gaze is fixated on Sam. She thinks she'd probably have more luck slipping away from the table and putting it directly in the trash, and so she decides to do just that.

Pushing her seat backwards, no one even flinches or looks her way as she stands up and takes her plate away from the table. She knows that Sam will have noticed that she's gone, but she doesn't think either of her parents will have. They've never been that observant when it comes to her. When she reaches the kitchen, she dumps her salad into the trash and places her plate into the dishwasher before leaning up against one of the countertops. She doesn't know when things got this strained with her parents, to the point that they've only spoken to her for a couple of minutes, to wish her a quick happy birthday and to let her know they had transferred one thousand dollars into her bank account as a birthday present. Of course, Brittany isn't complaining about that, because she's pretty sure it's like every student's dream to have their parents do that for them. She's really grateful because she knows that she can use the money to pay her rent for the next couple of months which means she can cut back her hours at her job the vets she works at, and use the extra time for studying.

She guesses that as she's growing older, she's beginning to realise that her relationship with her parents isn't normal at all, but she doesn't know what she's supposed to do about it. It's been this way ever since she was born, and so she's not hopeful that anything she does will change it in the slightest. She wishes that her parents treated her like they treated Sam, that they were interested in her life and supported her in every decision that she makes, but she's not an idiot, she knows that it isn't going to happen. It's never going to be like that and she needs to accept it and move on.

Shaking the thought from her head, Brittany puts a brave face on and makes her way back through to the dining room. Her mother looks up as she sits back down in her seat, but she doesn't say anything to her as she's too busy still listening to Sam. Brittany subtly glances up at the clock that's hanging on the wall to her left and tries to work out an acceptable time to leave. They've been here for just over an hour now and so Brittany thinks that if she stays for another thirty minutes then she can make up the excuse that she's been called into work and needs to leave. Of course, it will more than likely start the debate that she should be joining the family business instead of working as a vet, but at least it'll mean that she will have gotten the visit over and done with, and she won't have to see them for at least another three months. It's a bitter sweet feeling to her.

"Oh Brittany!" Her Mother's voice causes Brittany to snap out of her thoughts and she looks over to her Mother just in time to see her reach over the table and grab her right hand. Brittany can't help but find the physical contact somewhat strange because she's never been one to show a lot of physical contact to anyone, but also because her Mother barely ever hugs her or shows her any kind of sign of physical comfort, it's been that way for as long as she can remember. "Your timer has started!"

"Oh yeah." Brittany nods her head, acting as if it's no big deal, because to her it isn't _that_ big of a deal. After getting over the initial shock of it starting on her birthday yesterday, Brittany had kind of forgotten that it had been ticking away. She liked that she had didn't think about it too much or act like it was a huge deal because she didn't want to be one of those people who let the timer rule their lives, her friend Kurt did that for so long until he finally met his soulmate and Brittany's glad that she's not going to let that happen to her. "It started yesterday, I totally forgot about it."

Okay, so maybe she's lying a little bit, she hadn't _totally_ forgotten about it, it had crossed her mind a few times in the day. However, she just didn't see the point in telling her parents about it because they had a very different view on it than she did. Brittany liked to believe that when her timer stopped and she met her soulmate, that they would fall in love and be together for the rest of their lives. She had seen it happen to a lot of people around her and so she hoped that, she too, would have the same experience which is why she never bothered dating anyone throughout her teen years. What would be the point in dating someone, growing fond of them and making so many good memories with them, to one day waking up and meeting someone you're destined to be with and having to leave them behind? Brittany didn't see the point at all, which is why she didn't bother getting too close to anyone.

Her parents on the other hand, weren't even soulmates. Susan and Brian Pierce had met each other when they were fifteen years old, when their own parents had introduced them to one another. By the time they had turned eighteen, Brian and Susan were dating and even though their timers had started and they knew that they weren't each other's soulmates, they continued to date and by the time they were twenty-four, they were married.

Her parents never told her much about their relationship, so Brittany doesn't know if they were ever in love when they got married, but what she does know is that they were together for five years before they decided to start a family. By the time Sam was born, her parents were both starting out their careers as lawyers, following in the footsteps of their own parents. Sam hadn't been planned, and had put a slight damper on their family's future plans, but they worked through it and they were able to work up in the business and raise him at the same time.

Brittany isn't completely certain of the dates, but she knows that sometime in between Sam being born and herself being born, that both her Mother and Father met their soulmates. She knows that her Mother's had been a client of her own, because she remembers Sam telling her the story of how it was the only client her Mother refused to help and had to refer them to another lawyer. Brittany's always thought that must have been hard for her Mother to do, and she doesn't think she'd be able to do that to someone. Which is another reason as to why she decided to never get involved with anyone until her timer ran out. She didn't want to have to put herself or anyone else through any unnecessary pain.

Her Father on the other hand, was a completely different story because while Susan remained faithful to her husband, Brian did not remain faithful to his wife. When his timer ran out and he met his soulmate, the impulse had been too strong and he met with the other woman multiple times for almost an entire year. He worked hard to keep the affair quiet, but ultimately Susan found out by accident one morning when she was cleaning up and found one of his bank statements in his suit pocket. When Susan confronted him over the money being spent on hotel rooms just outside the city, Brian crumbled and confessed.

Brittany was born not too long after that.

"I've still got six months on mine." Brittany focusses back in on the conversation just in time to hear her brother say. "Hopefully I'll be in Australia by then, and I'll meet a really hot Australian girl to settle down with."

"Oh Sam!" Susan gasps. "That would be wonderful."

Brittany rolls her eyes at that and zones back out of the conversation because she doesn't think she'll ever understand how they can support Sam not settling down, but they're trying to set her up with their business partner's son. They've been trying to do it to her ever since she was thirteen years old, but she's successfully managed to dodge it for many years. She's sure that Artie is probably a really nice guy, but she doesn't want to find _'love'_ that way. Everyone has a timer for a reason, and she wishes that everyone would just accept it and let fate lead the way.

/

By the time Brittany gets home, it's not long after eight o'clock and she's exhausted. All she wants to do is change into her pyjamas and curl up in bed with the current book she's reading, but she knows that she can't because she needs to talk to Quinn and see how her day went and then she needs to fit in some time to study because she never got any done today. She ended up having to stay longer at her parents because the inevitable debate about the timers and fate had started one again when her Father had brought up Artie, and had began telling her about how nice he was and that he had been wondering if she had been available for a date.

Of course, Brittany had declined the advance, explaining to both of her parents that she was incredibly busy with college, work and exams coming up, but they both saw straight through her lie and tried once again to persuade her to go on a date with the guy. Luckily for her, Sam had been there and once he had voiced his dissatisfaction of Brittany going out on a date with someone he had never met before, they had dropped the subject. For now, and at least for another few months since they promised Sam he could meet Artie to make sure he was an alright guy. Brittany knew though that Sam was going to be flying off to France in a week though, and so she knew that he wouldn't be meeting him before then.

As she enters her apartment, Brittany kicks off her shoes at the door and shrugs off her jacket, hanging it up as she makes her way into the living room. She finds Quinn curled up on one side of the sofa with a blanket wrapped around her and a pizza box cradled into her chest, and so she takes a seat next to her, leaning over and grabbing a piece of pizza. She never did get anything to eat after the salad. Not too long after that, Lord Tubbington enters the living room and jumps up beside her, snuggling into her lap. She's pretty sure he's only there because she's got pizza but even so, she runs her fingers through his fur, and smiles as he purrs in satisfaction.

"How was the parents?" Quinn asks, taking a bite out of her slice of pizza. "You were away for ages."

"I know." Brittany rolls her eyes, mirroring her roommates actions. "My Mom and Dad found out my clock had started, and they made such a huge deal out of it." She explains further.

"Wait!" Quinn gasps. "Your clock started? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?"

"It happened yesterday, on my birthday." She explains nonchalantly. "I kind of forgot about it, like it woke me up, and then I fell back asleep. Then when morning came, I was so excited that it was my birthday that I just sorta forgot it was ticking away."

"That's crazy." Quinn chuckles. "How long have you got left on it anyway?"

"Seventy two days." Brittany answers. "It's like no time at all."

"You're so lucky!" Quinn exclaims. She doesn't know why, but when Brittany tells her that she's only got seventy two days left it's like she gets a sense of deja vu. It seems so familiar to her, but she doesn't know why. She thinks she's just being silly and she's not thinking properly because she's so tired and still a little bit hungover and so she pushes it to the back of her mind. "I've got six months left, it's ages."

"It'll be worth the wait though, Quinn." Brittany states. "Just wait and see."

/

So no Brittana interaction in this one. It's just more of a back story. But I can guarantee that the next update will have a lot of Brittana in it and things will move quickly on from there.

Please review and let me know what you think :)


	3. Chapter 3

_Searching for Something Special_

 _The Countdown_

 _Author's Note: Hey guys, if you are reading it would be amazing if you could review and let me know your thoughts and ideas for the story! The fandom is so quiet nowadays that I don't know whether people are reading or not, and if they're not then there's no point in continuing. So please review, it only takes 2 minutes!_

04:12:22:13

With the end of the college year and the end of exams fast approaching, the only thing that was consuming Brittany's mind was the pressure she had put on herself to do well in all of her classes. She needed to do well to prove not only to herself, but to everyone that doubted her that she could ace all of her classes and would then be one step closer to hopefully becoming a vet. In the back of her mind, she knew that no matter what, she could probably scrape by in her exams because some of her college coursework was going towards her final grades and she knew she had done well in those, but also because the information she was learning was interesting to her and so it stuck in her mind. Still though, Brittany didn't want to just pass by, she wanted to get the highest grade possible, which is why she was spending all of her free time studying.

For the past month or so, the blonde had cut down her hours working at the local vets and had compiled together a very detailed study plan. She had scheduled herself right down to every hour of everyday and because of that, it didn't leave much time to see her friends or do anything she considered fun. It had only been a month and she was already missing her daily trips to The Bean for a mug of hot chocolate with creams and marshmallows, instead she was opting for some boring hot chocolate she and Quinn bought when they last went shopping. It definitely wasn't the same.

Speaking of Quinn, Brittany was missing her too because her roommates schedule was just as tight as hers was. In fact, Brittany was almost positive that Quinn's schedule was probably worse than hers because Quinn still had to work four nights a week whereas Brittany didn't. It was obvious to Brittany that her roommate was under a lot of stress because the usual care-free Quinn that she'd grown to love and get along with, rarely made an appearance these days. Instead, it was usually a stressed, hungry and sleep deprived Quinn that would emerge from her bedroom every so often in search for something to eat, and whenever they came into contact with one another, Quinn would barely even speak to Brittany. Sometimes she would grunt or offer a tired smile, and Brittany would always return it because she knew it wasn't anything personal. Quinn was tired and stressed out, but in a few days it would all be over with and they could start enjoying the summer together. They just had to get through this first.

Despite not really liking the outdoors, or the hot weather (she burned easily), Brittany couldn't wait until she was done with college and exams so that she could spend the days relaxing and with her friends. They already had a list of things planned that they wanted to do, like going to the beach, camping, having a bonfire, and going to a carnival, and even though Brittany knew for a fact that she probably wouldn't like doing all of those things, she couldn't wait to just be free and enjoy herself. She wanted to enjoy her summer and dedicate it to making great memories with all of the people she cared about, even if it did mean that she was a little bit out of her comfort zone. Still, before all that could happen, she had to finish her exams and with her last one being tomorrow, she couldn't afford to spend her time slacking off.

Which is why, at four minutes to midnight, Brittany was sitting at her desk rubbing at her tired eyes in an attempt to stay awake to finish the chapter of the book she was studying from. Her exam was in nine hours and the blonde knew she couldn't stay up much longer because she could feel her body beginning to give up on her. She doesn't blame it though, because she's been up since six o'clock this morning because she couldn't sleep, and so she had started studying a lot earlier than intended. She glances over her shoulder and at her bed, smiling tiredly when she sees Lord Tubbington curled up at her pillow fast asleep. Wishing that she could join him, she turns back around to try and focus on the book in front of her, but it's no use. The words are beginning to jumble together, and Brittany knows she's reached her limit. Closing her eyes, she sighs loudly. Maybe it's time to call it a night...

The sound of her bedroom door creaking open causes Brittany to snap out of her thoughts, and she spins around in her seat once again to see Quinn poking her head through the gap to check if she's awake or not. When Quinn sees that she is in fact still up, she opens the door fully and steps into the room, making her way over to the bed in the middle of it and perching down on the edge of it. Brittany studies her roommate for a moment, and she notices how Quinn looks just as tired as she feels right now. She knows that Quinn's last exam was today though and she's slightly envious of the fact that Quinn will be able to relax tomorrow morning and sleep the day away while she spends another four hours in the exam hall, stressing over a piece of paper that will contribute to her future plans.

"Hey, Brittany." Quinn eventually greets. "How are you?"

"Exhausted." Brittany replies honestly. "What about you?"

"The same." Her roommate answers. "You should be sleeping now, I came through to make sure you were."

Brittany can't help but smile at that, finding it cute how Quinn cares about her so much that she's making sure she's getting enough rest. Quinn is the most caring friend she's ever had, and Brittany knows that she would do the same for the blonde.

"I was just about to head to bed." Brittany responds after a moment of thought. "My brain can't take anymore studying, my eyes are too sore from all the reading."

"You've done enough." Her roommate reassures her. "By two o'clock tomorrow, you and I will be done with college for the summer and we'll be able to relax. You've just gotta hang in there."

"You're right, one more exam and then it's done." The blonde agrees with a small nod. "Then we can relax and have some fun."

"Speaking of fun..." Quinn starts, suddenly remembering something she was supposed to ask Brittany about ages ago, but forgot because of how busy they both were. "Are you coming to Puck's End of Year party?"

Brittany hums in thought for a moment, thinking of her answer. She had completely forgotten about Puck's party, well she didn't forget because she remembers getting a Facebook invitation and she got a text from Puck last week reminding her about it, she just forgot that it was so soon. She doesn't really want to go, but at the same time she kind of does because it'll give her a chance to get out of the apartment and dance with her friends.

"I don't know yet." Brittany shrugs. "I haven't given it much thought."

"Please just come, please!" Quinn pleads with a small pout. "We both deserve to get completely wasted and let our hair down for a bit."

"You're right about that." Brittany chuckles. "I guess I can come for a little while."

"Great!" Quinn hugs her roommate before standing up. "I'm gonna leave you to get some sleep now, goodnight B."

"Goodnight, Q"

/

00:00:38:17

Santana leans up against the countertop in her friend's apartment, her eyes scanning the surrounding area carefully as she nurses her Jack and Coke between her hands. She's at her friend, Puck's, end of year party. Although, she uses the term 'friend' loosely because in reality, they're more like acquaintances. One night, when Santana had gone out to a bar alone to escape the pressure she was under, she had bumped into him and after unsuccessfully trying to hit on her a countless number of times, they found that they actually had some things in common. They got a long well, and whenever she needed to go out for a drink, Puck always seemed to be free. She didn't know too much about him though, and he didn't know much about her. They never really spoke about personal stuff, she doesn't know why though, it just never came up in conversation. So, yeah, Puck was her drinking acquaintance and he had invited her to his end of year party and she thought it would be rude not to go.

Well, truth be told, she had no other plans for tonight other than sitting in and relaxing for the first time in months. However, when she had let it slip to her roommate, Mercedes, that she had been invited to a party, she had bugged her into going and letting her tag along. Santana's eyes instinctively fall onto her roommate who is currently at the other end of the room flirting with some random guy that Santana knows is no good for her. Santana doesn't really understand why Mercedes goes for guys that look like complete douche bags, but she guesses it isn't really any of her business. She has an understanding with her roommate which is that neither of them get involved with each other's romantic interests. Santana smirks at the thought of a romantic interest because it's been so long since she's gotten with anyone because of work, college and exams. She guesses she could find someone tonight, but she's not really feeling all that into it. All the people at this party are from a different college, and so she's a complete outsider and feels a little out of place. It won't be that way for long though, because she found out earlier that her best friend Quinn was coming to this party too, which she was happy about because it meant another familiar face.

Speaking of Quinn, Santana takes her phone out of her back pocket and lets out a small sigh when she sees that she's still not received a text from her. She had spoken to the blonde on the phone earlier who had promised she would be there at half past eight, and yet here they were, almost at nine o'clock and there was still no sign of her. She thinks it's kind of funny that Quinn is the one who's running late for once since usually it's the other way about. Santana contemplates texting her first and asking her where she is, but she decides against it because she knows that for the rest of the night her best friend will poke fun at her for being clingy, and that's something she doesn't need.

Slipping her phone back into her pocket, Santana downs the last of the contents in her glass before placing it back down onto the countertop behind her. She casts her gaze back over towards Mercedes, but finds that she's nowhere to be seen and it causes her to smirk. Could Mercedes really have scored that early on in the night? She guesses she'll find out later when she catches back up with her. She can't wait to hear all of the details.

Santana can feel her cheeks growing warm due to the alcohol she's been consuming and she thinks about going outside to get some fresh air, but before she can even make a move, Puck stops right in front of her and blocks her path. He's grinning at her widely, and she can tell that he's already quite drunk and so she can't help but grin back at him. She might find him incredibly annoying, but she can't help but have a slight soft spot for him, not that she would ever admit that to him.

"Santana, you're looking great tonight!" He compliments sincerely, and she watches as he goes over to the countertop and grabs to shot glasses and a bottle. She's still too hot though, and so she takes off her leather jacket she's wearing and balances it over her arm. "Let's take a shot to celebrate the end of the year!"

Santana agrees, obviously, because it would be really rude not too, and accepts the shot that Puck hands to her. She keeps her eyes locked onto his as he counts down from three and when they reach one, she downs the shot with ease. She turns her body to put the glass back down onto the countertop and when she turns back around, she notices that Puck never even took his. Instead it's still in his hand, hovering in midair as he continues to stare at her.

"Puck?" She calls, trying to get his attention. "Have I spilled my shot down myself?" She questions as she stares down at her top because it would be quite embarrassing if she had done so. She was currently wearing a white crop top along with a pari of black ripped skinny jeans, and although the outfit done a great job of moulding around her assets and showing off her toned stomach, she really didn't like the idea of spilling alcohol all down herself this early on into the party.

"Dude..." He breathes out finally, still staring at her. "Your timer..."

Her timer? Santana furrows her eyebrows in confusion for a minute, but then it clicks. _Her timer!_

She glances down at her left wrist and sees the numbers ticking away on it, and that's when she understands why Puck completely freaked out on her. It's because her timer is almost up. She has to admit, she had kind of forgotten about it because she never did take much notice of it. She didn't believe in soulmates or true love, and if she's honest, she's glad that it's going to run out soon so that she doesn't have to put up with it for much longer.

00:00:34:19.

"Oh yeah." She replies nonchalantly, offering a small shrug to the man in front of her. "Times almost up."

"How are you so calm about this?!" Puck almost yells, failing to understand how Santana could be so calm about it. "You're going to meet your soulmate in thirty minutes!"

"Yeah, yeah." She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. She remembers now why she didn't mention to anyone that she didn't have much time left. It's because they all act as if it's the end of the world, and truth be told, it's nothing like that. All that's going to happen is that when her timer reaches zero, she's going to meet someone who is apparently her soulmate. It's not that big a deal, especially since she doesn't believe in the crap anyway.

When she had been younger, Santana Lopez did believe in soulmates and she couldn't wait for her clock to start so that she could finally know how many more days she had to wait until she could meet her soulmate. She had grown up watching her Mother and Father, two soulmates who loved each other dearly, live their lives and build a family and home together, and she couldn't wait to be able to do those things too. The first thing she ever did when she woke up was check her left wrist to see if her timer had started, but it never did, and she done this every morning up until the age of thirteen.

However, when Santana turned fifteen, her Father died of a heart attack. It was completely unexpected, but it had happened while he was driving and it had caused a crash and ultimately ended in his death. Logically, Santana knows that it was no one's fault and it couldn't be helped, but she can't help but feel like her Father abandoned them in some sort of way. She had never been all too close with her Father since he worked a demanding job that kept him out of the house often, but despite that, his death affected her greatly. Although, it affected her Mother even more. Maribel Lopez had been left completely heartbroken, her soulmate no longer there to love her or guide her through life, and Santana had been the one who had to help pick up all the pieces of her Mother's broken heart.

Her life had been tough, especially with school on top of it all, and because of that she promised herself that she would never fall in love with her own soulmate. She didn't want to be heartbroken and helpless like her Mother, and so Santana vowed from that day forward that she was never, ever, going to rely on someone that much for her happiness.

"You're my lesbro." Santana hears Puck announce somewhat proudly as she zones back in on the conversation. "I'm gonna help you find your soulmate!"

/

"Brittany, come on!"

Brittany rolls her eyes as she hears Quinn shout on her from the living room, for the third time in five minutes. She gives herself a once over in her full length mirror, nodding her head in approval at her outfit choice. She's got on a pair of white ripped skinny jeans and a cute black crop top to go with it. She's decided to curl her hair tonight, which is one of the reasons why she's running so late, and she allows her hair to cascade all the way down to her lower back. Which is a complete change to always having it tied up into a side pony which is what she's used to.

"Brittany the party started thirty minutes ago!" Quinn's voice is louder now and Brittany's pretty sure that if she takes any longer then Quinn is either going to come barging in and drag her out of here by the hair, or leave without her. The second option kind of appeals to her because even though she is looking forwards to getting out of the apartment, there's a bottle of wine in the fridge with her name on it and she's got three new episodes of _Pretty Little Liars_ to catch up on.

"Tina is waiting outside for us!"

"Go and wait in the car then!" Brittany calls back as she dances her way over to her dresser and grabs her necklace and charm bracelet from them. "I'll be two minutes, I promise!"

She perches herself down onto her bed and once she's slipped her necklace on, she goes to do the same with her charm bracelet. She hears Quinn moan about something from the other side of the door, and she's kind of glad that the music in her room is playing so loud that she can barely hear her. However, as she turns her wrist over so that she can put the bracelet on, it's as if everything freezes and no one or anything matters in that moment.

00:00:21:09.

She's going to meet her soulmate in twenty-one minutes.

She looks at it again.

00:00:21:08.

It's definitely not a dream.

00:00:21:07.

She doesn't understand how she forgot about it, she was sure she still had at least a full day left on her clock. Jumping up from the bed, she shuts her music off, shrugs her jacket on and grabs her bag before fleeing out the door because she knows for a fact that there's no way she's going to meet her soulmate while sitting in her bedroom.

The bracelet is long forgotten about.

When Brittany climbs into the car alongside her friends, she's nervous. She was supposed to be going to a party to have a good time, relax and let loose, but now that's all changed. She's going to a party, a party that she doesn't even really want to go to, and she's going to meet her soulmate there! She debates on whether or not she should tell Quinn, Kurt and Tina this since they're all in the car with her, but she decides against it because she knows how they'll react. Quinn won't leave her alone until she meets the soulmate for herself, Kurt will probably do the same, and well Tina... Tina will probably make the news into something about her because that's what she _always_ does. So Brittany decides to keep quiet, because in less than twenty minutes the news will be out anyway.

00:00:04:48.

When Brittany steps out of the car, she subtly glances down at her wrist so that she can check the time on it. She then looks up at Puck's apartment and immediately feels an unsettling and nervous feeling settle in her stomach. It's obvious to her that the party is already in full swing, she can hear the music that's playing from inside of the apartment loud and clear from outside of it, and judging by the amount of beer bottles and cans that are littered all over the front lawn, she can't even begin to imagine how drunk some people must already be.

 _'Yep, staying in and watching Pretty Little Liars with a bottle of wine would've been so much better.'_ Brittany thinks to herself as she follows her friends along the pathway towards the house, but before they even get to the door, they're stopped by a few people who Quinn knows from college. It doesn't really come as a surprise to any of them though because it always happens when they're out with Quinn, she's the socialite of the group and she seems to know everyone.

00:00:03:27

For once in her life though, Brittany wishes that Quinn didn't have so many friends because as she stands, waiting for her friend to finish her conversation, she becomes increasingly aware of two things. The first thing is that she's only got three minutes until she meets her soulmate. The second thing is that she really, really, needs to pee. She curses herself because she knew she should have gone before they had left their apartment, but in the frenzy she was in she had completely forgotten. Stupid timer.

"Brittany!" Tina's voice sounds and when Brittany looks up, she finds that her friends are already at the door to the apartment. She really does need to stop spacing out so much. "Are you coming?"

00:00:02:47.

"Sam's being trying to call me." She announces, holding up her phone in her hand. It's a complete lie. Sam hasn't been trying to call her, but they don't need to know that right now. "I'm gonna call him back in case it's important. I'll catch up with you guys inside."

Brittany watches as all of her friends disappear through the doors of the apartment, and so she takes a few tentative steps towards it, still clutching her phone tightly in her hand. She's not going to lie, she's beginning to get nervous because it's suddenly gotten all so real for her. She can feel her heart practically pounding in her chest, and her hands are beginning to get a little bit sweaty. She can't believe that this is happening.

00:00:01:10.

Brittany's pretty sure times going slower now. She glances around and she realises she's alone. No one else is out her with her. It's just her, and her own thoughts. She casts her memory back to when she was younger and how she used to imagine the scenario of meeting her soulmate. She had always assumed it would have been while she was walking down the street, or in the library, or in a coffee shop. She always thought that she'd walk in minding her own business and then she'd see someone, and she'd just _know._ She always thought it would a lot calmer than this, but right now she's beginning to wonder why she thought it would be so simple because she's freaking out so much.

00:00:00:39.

Brittany thinks about running away. She's never been good at making new friends, and she just knows that when she meets her soulmate, that she's going to do or say something to embarrass herself.

00:00:00:21.

Then again, she doesn't even know if running away from her soulmate before she's met them would work, since it's up to fate and all.

00:00:00:14.

She's so concentrated on watching her timer tick down that she's forgotten that she needs to pee.

00:00:00:03.

Brittany closes her eyes and inhales through her nose, before exhaling deeply.

00:00:00:02.

Brittany opens her eyes. She's sure time is going slower now.

00:00:00:01.

Brittany hears the front door slam shut, causing her to jump.

00:00:00:00.

Brittany looks up from her wrist just in time to see the most beautiful girl she's ever seen stumble down the stairs to the apartment, and fall into her. At first, Brittany is caught off guard by the surprise, but she quickly composes herself and wraps her arms around the stranger's petite waist to stop her from falling. She holds onto the girl tightly, and she suddenly becomes aware of how close they are to one another. Their bodies are pressed flushed against one another, and as the girl is a little bit shorter than Brittany, she has her head tucked under Brittany's chin.

The girl in her arms shuffles a little, and so Brittany loosens the hold on her, but just enough so that the stranger can take a step back and look at her properly. Usually, Brittany gets nervous in situations like this, where she's being judged by a complete stranger, but for some reason, this doesn't feel strange for her. So, instead of cowering away from the soft gaze coming from the round pair of mocha eyes in front of her, she stares back. She takes the time to allow her eyes to run all over the strangers body, and it leaves her breathless because, well, the girl is beautiful.

Brittany doesn't think she's met, or even seen, anyone as beautiful in her entire life. She can't even begin to think of words that could describe this girl's beauty and do it justice. Brittany starts by admiring her hair, it's long and raven coloured, and stops just after chest (which Brittany can't help but admire too, she's always loved boobs). Her caramel coloured skin looks so soft and smooth, and Brittany notices that she has the cutest little dimples when she's smiling. Then it dawns on her... the girl is smiling at her, and she has the most beautiful smile that Brittany has ever seen. She can't help but return the smile with a shy one of her own, and she can feel herself getting a little flustered now because everything that's happening is suddenly a lot more real.

She searches the stranger's curious eyes, and she can tell by the glint that she has in them that she knows why she's here too. They've finally met, and Brittany couldn't be anymore happier. She hopes that her soulmate is happy too, and by the way that she's smiling, the blonde thinks that she must be.

"Hi Soulmate." The stranger's voice finally greets, and Brittany is positive it's the most beautiful voice she's ever had the pleasure of listening to. Everything about this girl is beautiful, and Brittany is in complete awe. "I'm Santana."

"Hi Soulmate." Brittany responds, licking nervously at her lips. "I'm Brittany... and I really need to pee." Brittany automatically cringes when the second part leaves her lips because she totally never meant to say it out loud. She's about to backtrack and make up a ridiculous excuse as to why she said it, but before she can Santana starts giggling and it causes her to freeze.

"How about I show you to the bathroom?" She suggests, running her hand down Brittany's arm until she nudges her hand with her own. Brittany takes the hint and links their hands together, and she doesn't think she's ever done anything that's felt so _right_ like this has.

They enter the apartment together, and the music blaring loudly from the speakers is what brings Brittany back into reality. She's just met her soulmate, Santana, who is the most beautiful human being she's ever met, and now she's just led her back into a house party that she didn't even want to be at anyone, and it's a house party that all of her friends are it. She loves her friends, but she doesn't like the idea of any of them catching her like this, right now, it's too soon and she really doesn't want any of them to scare Santana away. They can all be pretty full on, especially when they're drunk, and the last thing she needs is them embarrassing her in front of Santana. She can do that very well on her own, she thinks.

Luckily for her, the bathroom isn't too far away, and Santana leads Brittany to it without anyone noticing. Santana leans up against the wall opposite the bathroom door and tells her she'll wait here for her, and so Brittany heads into the bathroom by herself. Whilst she's in there, she freshens herself up a little bit and double checks her appearance in the mirror. She's never thought of herself as being incredibly pretty, but now that she's met Santana, she wants to at least try and scrub up well if she's going to be seen with her.

She leaves the bathroom a few minutes later, and when she does, she's relieved to find Santana still in the same position that she left her in. Brittany walks the few steps over to her and then reaches out and takes a gentle hold onto her tanned wrist. She doesn't know what it is about Santana, but she just wants to have some kind of physical contact with her, which is weird because physical contact is usually something she would shy away from. She guesses though, that because they're soulmates, that they don't really have control over their urges.

"You're really, really pretty." Brittany breathes out, deep in thought, and blushes when she realised she said her thoughts out loud. She's about to apologise for her lack of filter, but when she sees that Santana is smiling bashfully back at her, she doesn't think she needs to. "Like an angel."

"I could say the same for you, you're like a goddess." Santana responds, never missing a beat. She's come across her fair share of girls when she's been out partying or at clubs, but she has never laid eyes on someone as beautiful as Brittany. "I don't want to come across as too forward, but do you wanna get out of here?" She eventually asks, using her free hand to tuck a strand of Brittany's hair behind her ear. "We could go to The Bean? They do the best pa-"

"Pancakes!" Brittany finishes, her smile never leaving her lips. "I would love to."

/

So the next update will take place where this one finished off. Hopefully I'll have it up soon. Please review! Let me know your ideas and thoughts!


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